For the last several ACTs now, including the June test (which I took), there has been a difference in both the ACT Reading and Science sections. And by the looks of it, the change is probably here to stay. Not to be outdone by the folks at College Board, the makers of the ACT probably decided that they too needed to adapt and tweak the test some to at the very least give the appearance of being dedicated to continually “improving” the test. Unlike the folks at College Board, however, the people behind the ACT never seem to give the proper warning and release of information that they should – students just go in there, expect a certain test, and are sometimes surprised by slight changes that either were not announced or were announced so as to make sure that nobody noticed!

Change to the Reading Section
The change to the ACT Reading section is pretty well-known at this point. One “passage” on the Reading section is now actually 2 smaller passages with some comparative questions accompanying them. The paired passages seem to be appearing in the Humanities part of the Reading section and usually contain about 6 or 7 questions that ask about the passage individually and then 3 or 4 questions that ask about the passages together. There is really no reason to sweat this change. The versions of this new format that I have seen, including the one that was on the June 2015 ACT, were pretty straightforward and not as hard as the same variety that appears on the SAT. The single passage questions usually come first and then are followed by the comparative questions. So just like on the SAT, it makes sense to read the passages one-by-one, answering the questions that deal with one passage before turning to the other one, and then dealing with the comparative questions last, once you have answered all of the other questions. That strategy would probably be intuitive to most people, but I thought it was worthy of mention anyway. If you would like to see an example of the new format, visit the below link:

http://www.actstudent.org/sampletest/reading/read_05.html

Change to the Science Section
The change to the ACT Science is much less known – even though it was there on the February test I didn’t even know about it until much later. And it will likely still surprise people for some time until it becomes common knowledge (which again may take a long time since the folks at ACT, Inc. are not helping people become more aware!). The ACT science section used to have 7 passages – 3 Experiments, 3 Charts and Graphs, and 1 Dueling Scientists (these are the informal names – ACT uses a slightly different nomenclature). Since February, however, the Science section has consisted of 6 passages, most of which have had an additional question added on.

At this point it’s difficult to say if there will be an exact structure to the Science section that will be replicated on every exam since ACT, Inc. has not released any guidelines to help test takers, but it seems likely that the structure will be 3 Experiments (probably 7 questions each), 2 Charts and Graphs (6 questions each), and 1 Dueling Scientists (7 questions). The number of questions may change but I would be surprised if all future ACTs didn’t have 3 Experiments, 2 Charts and Graphs, and 1 Dueling Scientists.

What does this all mean for test takers? Not that much really – just a change in pacing strategies. What I would definitely recommend and what I am recommending to my students is that as soon as the Science section begins they immediately skip forward to see how many passages there are. If there are 7, then the familiar 5 minutes per passage strategy would still apply. If there are 6 passages then they have something closer to 6 minutes per passage. Its actually a hair under 6 minutes per passage so students need to be mindful of that, but generally they should target 6 minutes per passage and try to be a little ahead of that pacing.

Other Changes
ACT, Inc. also recently announced changes to the Writing (Essay) section of the exam (changes that actually affected the September exam). I will deal with those changes in another post since the changes are a little more involved, so stay tuned, but if you would like to get more information about those changes please go to:

http://www.actstudent.org/writing/enhancements/

For those who don’t know, College Confidential is the most popular SAT forum on the internet. It is a great resource for students and parents alike on topics ranging from standardized testing to admissions concerns. Nevertheless, there are some down sides to the site and I recently had a bad experience dealing with a site moderator so this post will explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of College Confidential.

The Good
Overall, College Confidential is a great resource. Many people studying for the SAT and ACT post questions and responses on there and many experts (as well as some “posers”) often answer questions or provide advice as well. Generally speaking the people who post are either hard working and high scoring students who have pretty good insights about the tests or experts who really know the tests and how to study for them. There are even parents and admissions officers from schools around the country who post on the forums. And like any good forum, the community is very supportive (generally speaking) and it is a great place to air questions, anxieties, etc. I would regard College Confidential as the best forum for information regarding the SAT and ACT and really anything related to college admissions.

The Bad
Maybe the word “bad” is a little strong here, but one of the biggest drawbacks of the College Confidential forums, especially for students using the site to get information and support, is that  the students who post tend to be extremely high achievers and it can be very, very discouraging to surf around through the forums. For example, you will often (very often) see people posting asking if they should retake the SAT because they are not happy with the 740CR, 780W, 710M score that they currently have. And even the amount of work and dedication that most of the posters put in to preparing for the SAT and ACT is not normal (in the sense that most would-be test-takers study far, far less). So it can be a little discouraging for people who are not super motivated and who are not scoring at the top end of the spectrum. I have had students complain that browsing the site was a very discouraging experience, so be forewarned.

The Ugly
Like all forums, College Confidential has moderators and it is never a good thing when moderators come to have an inflated sense of their own power and importance. It is especially bad when the site administrators don’t appreciate the posters who make the site so valuable and without whom the site would cease to exist. I recently had an unfortunate experience with 2 separate moderators who basically bullied me and threatened to ban me from the site. It was a ridiculous incident, but at one point one of the moderators threatened that if I even messaged him back he would ban me. What did I do? Obviously I messaged him back. This particular moderator (fallenchemist) and the other one who contacted me previously were just down-right nasty to me from there very first communication and for no good reason. When I pointed out that posters like me who contributed valuable information to the community were part of what made the site so valuable and that it was inappropriate to be nasty and threatening, he banned me. I pointed out that I was posting for the benefit of the readers and posters and that banning me for no other reason than that I was not going to simply sit there and take his abuse without defending myself was just a going to be a detriment to the community. It didn’t matter – when I messaged him back I was banned.  Shame on you fallenchemist.  So needless to say I will not be offering my advice or answering questions on College Confidential anymore (unless I choose to create a new anonymous identity). This is the ugly side of College Confidential.

That said, College Confidential is still a very good site and a valuable source of information. Just be careful not to cross a power-intoxicated moderator on the site!!!

In addition to being an SAT and ACT tutor, I am also a GMAT tutor and a GRE tutor. The SAT, ACT, GMAT, and GRE are actually very similar, much more alike than most people realize. The content that underlies the tests is almost exactly the same, especially with regard to the SAT, GMAT, and GRE (the ACT differs a bit more from the other three). And all of the tests are essentially reasoning tests so the kinds of critical thinking and problem solving skills that they test are also essentially the same.

The GMAT and the GRE are more difficult than the SAT or ACT, but again the content largely overlaps (there are a few concepts on the GRE and GMAT that go beyond what is on the SAT and ACT, but then again there are some things on the ACT that go beyond what is on the GMAT and GRE). What sets the GMAT and GRE apart is that the questions require more creative problem solving and more rigorous critical thinking.

But that is sometimes just what is needed for people studying to take the SAT or ACT. GMAT and GRE questions often provide an opportunity to push students to a higher level of reasoning so that they can see just what type of critical thinking and problem solving skills need to be applied on the hardest SAT and ACT questions. Some questions are just too hard or require knowledge or skills that go beyond what is on the SAT and ACT, but many other GMAT and GRE questions could just as easily be SAT or ACT questions (and vice versa actually…in fact on the June ACT there was a Math question that I would argue would be on the very top of the scale of what could appear on the GMAT or GRE).

For example, SAT Sentence Improvement (SI) questions are virtually identical to GMAT Sentence Correction (SC) questions except that the latter version is significantly harder. Nevertheless, when I am trying to teach an SAT student how to approach difficult SI questions I often use some really good, level-appropriate GMAT SC questions. The greater focus on logic and meaning, the kind of trickery, the need to use the wrong answers are all things that are typical of GMAT SC questions and they are applicable to hard SAT SI questions as well.

And often when I am trying to teach students how to draw proper inferences I like to use GMAT Critical Reasoning inference questions to make the point. The hallmark of drawing proper inferences is understanding that you cannot deviate too far from the evidence provided – the inference needs to be a conclusion that can be drawn with near certainty, not a conclusion that might be true but is not necessarily inferable based on the information provided. That is a key skill on SAT Critical Reading questions but it is a point that is difficult to illustrate in isolation on SAT questions. So I often use GMAT CR inference questions with my SAT students to make the point and then once understand the concept they start to see how to draw proper inferences on the SAT and ACT.

Using GMAT and GRE questions en masse without understanding which ones are applicable to the SAT or ACT is probably not a great idea. In general the Math questions translate well, but many are often much more difficult that those that appear on the SAT/ACT. Nevertheless, select GMAT and GRE questions often supplement SAT and ACT questions very well and give students the kind of training that they need to handle the most difficult questions that they are likely to see on the SAT and ACT.